Christmas Delivery!

Winter, apart from being generally ghastly, means that runs in the Morgan are probably infrequent and the car sits in the garage under wraps adding to my melancholy mood.

The greasing has been done and you can't keep polishing the thing, so the only thing you can do is pray that a wonderful winters day will come along and give some respite. Also there's that increasing sense of anxiety that if you don't get it on the road soon it will develop square tyres!

Delivering Christmas cards in style

One of those special days dawned today. Alright, the temperature was barely 3 degrees, but the sun was out in a sky uncluttered by clouds and there was no wind, normally a feature on the Lancashire coast.

Ho,Ho,Ho!

What is more, we had an excuse, not that one was needed, because, due to an exorbitant rise in the cost of postage, we had decided to deliver our local cards by hand. So why not use the Morgan and keep us and the car happy?




It is amazing the effectiveness of the Morgan's heater,  we were as warm as toast and it brought to mind a coversation I had with  Helen Thorne, http://rtcc.co.uk as she took me on a test drive before we bought one. She advised that I should use the efficiency of the heater as a major selling point, if it proved necessary to convince my wife on the desirability of the car. It was not necessary!!

The car has had a good run so my mind is settled in that respect, although now I have to endure all the mental contortions involved in pouring over maps, planning our next adventure in 2013, following my dear wife's suggestion that a month long trip, pootling around Spain and France might be appealing!!!!!

PS This is a nice little 2 minute video about the Plus 8.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/motoringvideo/9727841/Making-of-the-new-Morgan-Plus-8-in-two-minutes.html   

Dear Kenneth

Today I have received yet another letter from my Swedish friend and fellow Blogger, Kenneth, whose website you will find amongst my 'Followers', (he's the chap sitting in the red Triumph).

Ken's Roadster, nice and warm!

I receive regular letters from him, as he sits in his garage (more like an aircraft hangar compared to mine!) with his 'drajja', the Swedish equivalent of a G&T and next to his beautiful Roadster. In this morning's letter he attached photos of his car cocooned for the duration of the Swedish winter and the snowy scene that faced him in his garden.

He mentions that, in the middle of this week, temperatures are expected to fall to minus 15 degrees with more snow! 

Snow in a Swedish garden



We have not had snow in Lancashire yet although a severe winter has been forecast for the UK by those purveyors of doom at the Meteorological Office. There are other factors, particularly one, that have led to the Morgan staying in its garage.

My letter to Kenneth follows:-

Dear Kenneth,

Lovely to hear from you as ever and thanks for the photos, I might use them in a post for my blog, unless there is a copyright in place!

No snow here yet, but the weather is very mixed and not really suitable for the Mog. I greased the suspension the other day and gave the car a good clean and there it has stood ever since.

Various things have contrived to take up much of my time, not least the fact that the local pub has decided to introduce Pay and Display on their car park. Sadly they hold all the cards, because they do own the car park and the local Council has rented rented 30 spaces for shoppers from them for many years,  the 20 businesses in the village only having 3 OFFICIAL PARKING PLACES on the road!

Having been faced with a large increase in the rent charged, the Council have now pulled out of the negotiations so the businesses are on their own, including a Doctors Surgery and Chemist.

I was born in the village 69 years ago, am well known (a medium size fish in a very little pond!) and still have business interests in the village, as well as a great love of the place. So, as I have got the time, I have been contacting Chief Executives, Councillors, MP, Local Press and completed a local Radio interview, in an effort to increase general opposition.

This is being achieved and a Public Meeting has been organised for Saturday, when hopefully there will be a big turnout of residents.

Pay and Display will kill the village as well as the Pub, but the idiots in grey suits can't seem to appreciate this.

The village will become a 'drive through'. Nobody is going to park and pay in order to go across the road to buy a packet of 'fags' or an item from the Chemist, they will just continue to the next town or a Superstore!

So the fight continues and the Morgan sits disconsolately in the garage.

Will write soon,

Kindest regards,

Chris 

Forgot to mention......

.......that on the way back from the factory, where my new windscreen had been fitted, we were travelling for the second half of the journey in pouring rain with the hood up.

It was on one occasion when I turned on the washers to clear the screen, that I noticed that the left hand nozzle wasn't working. To our joint horror we realised that each time I had done this, water poured from the washer bottle on to the transmission tunnel and carpet!

Needless to say, we endured a dirty windscreen until we reached home.

The factory were phoned, firstly to thank them for the excellent service we had received, but also to mention the fact that the washer pipe had come adrift. Mark, the Service and Repair Manager was most apologetic and said that a new factory upgrade existed which he would forward to Life's, my dealer in Southport, and they would fit the item FREE of charge.

Yesterday we visited Life's, great fun as usual, and had the new pipe and clips fitted which should ensure that the problem will never arise again.

Super service from the Morgan.

Moving forward!!

How do these phrases originate? Who is the twit that thought of this one?

I am sure all my UK visitors will have heard this frequently......ie., 'moving forward we envisage a massive increase in sales', why not simply, 'we envisage a massive increase in sales!'

As you all consider and assimilate this, bear in mind that there is also an alternative now in common use and that is, 'going forward', not to be confused with the above mentioned form, but equally as pointless!

Both are used extensively now, in various contexts, and they are, for the most part, totally unnecessary.

The media have to be held solely responsible I suppose, as it needs just one berk to use it on the telly and the whole illiterarti are using the phrase to supposedly enrich their conversation and reporting.

When will it be included in the Oxford English Dictionary and indeed what will the definition of the phrase be when that great day arrives,....'Opposite of moving or going backwards' I suppose!?

These are the sort of issues that trouble Morganistas as they sit miserably indoors, racing raindrops down the windows, as the heavens open once again on this great country of ours!

They just don't get it!

You know, I totally agree with the views expressed by my chum Dennis in my previous post.

The other day I watched a video of an 'Auto Express' motoring journalist doing a comparative road test of  the new Porsche 911 and the new Morgan Plus 8.

At the outset I felt that it was a pointless exercise because the two cars cater for two entirely different sorts of animal.

If you want brute power with a very high level of comfort then you would choose the Porsche. Conversely, if you want brute power but in a traditional 1930's ish form then the Morgan is for you. The two are quite incomparable it seems to me. I watched the video anyway, just to drool over the Morgan but got increasingly agitated as the criticisms of the Mog started to be made.

Pointing out that the traditional Morgan is cramped with limited storage capacity, its sidescreens rattle and it leaks is manna from heaven to a Morgan enthusiast, for that is what Morgan driving is all about, even at £85000. The beautiful style, the quintessentially English looks and the fact that you are driving a car that mirrors designs of years ago, but without the inherent unreliability of those early cars, attracts me and other owners, giving pleasure to the thousands of people who watch as we drive by.

People don't look twice at a Porsche, Ferrari or Aston Martin, but by golly they look twice at me and that is nothing to do with my George Clooney good looks!

These motoring pundits just don't seem to get it!

'Letter from Welshpool'

Try as I might, I can't get my head around the Librands replacement suspension for traditional Morgans and to the power-assisted steering system advertised by Classic Driving Development.  It begs the question, can a Morgan which has been so drastically altered from the original specification still be accepted as a 'proper' Morgan??!!

Let me make it perfectly clear that my comments are in no way intended as a criticism of those companies or their products.   The opinions expressed here are mine, and mine alone



Dennis driving his 4/4

For £6,000, Librands will remove the original front suspension and replace it with something completely different which gives a more comfortable ride.  For £3,000, Classic Driving Development will fit power-assisted steering.

Now it so happens I do have £9,000 available, though it is doubtful my wife would agree to spend that amount on modifying our 58-reg 4/4.  But even if she did, I would not want the work carried out.

Anyone who purchases a Morgan must know what they are letting themselves in for - the bone-shaking ride and (at least compared to a tin top) - the relatively heavy low-speed steering being just two items. They come with the territory, like it or not.  And if you don't like, or can't deal with it, then maybe you shouldn't buy one!

It is sometimes said that if God had intended us to fly he would have given us wings.  Likewise, perhaps if God had intended Morgans to float along effortlessly, and be steered by using one's little finger, he would have told Peter Morgan to make the relevant developments at the factory.

Part of the Morgan charm is that the cars are an anachronism, a throw-back to the thirties.  What other car looks old as soon as it begins life, and feels old in the suspension department and driving experience, yet is blessed with the latest technology under the bonnet?  I love the idea I am driving what is basically a no frills pre-war car, but one which is totally practical in today's traffic conditions.  Thus I am more than happy to put up with any perceived drawbacks.

Let me say once again that I am not being critical of Librands or CDD.  We know from items in Miscellany that the former product does exactly what it says on the tin, and I am sure the same applies to the CDD power steering system.  But is a Morgan fitted with one or both still a Morgan in the true sense of the word?  For me, the answer is no.

If you want a boulevard ride, and all mod cons, then why not purchase a Mazda MX-5, or perhaps a Jaguar/Audi/Renault/Vauxhall etc convertible?  You can't eat your cake and have it (but note you can have your cake and eat it - think about that!) 

I wonder how the modifications will affect resale values.  It is interesting to note that CDD mention the power steering system can be removed, leaving no evidence!

Dennis Duggan

Malvern Ho!

The sun shines on the righteous so they say and it certainly shone brightly for our journey to the factory last Monday, so we must have done something right!

After a brief and noisy drive on the M6 and M56 we joined the A49 south of Warrington and headed south on a route that would take us through Cheshire, Shropshire, Herefordshire, Worcestershire and the Welsh Marches to Malvern.

Picnic lunch on the A49

The A49 is a road that always brings back countless memories of the 12 hour drive completed by my father, taking his family on their annual holiday to Devon, in the days before the motorways.

Our journey on Monday coincided with a similar trip that my email chum Dennis Duggan was making, from his home in Welshpool, to collect his 4/4 that had been at the factory having work done. We calculated that we might see each other en route as he travelled north and we moved southwards, the approximate meeting point likely to be Church Stretton.

As we approached the place, I spotted a sign to a village 2.5 miles away, where my youngest sister has bought a cottage that is being renovated and I thought that a small detour to see it could be made without jeopardising our chance of spotting Dennis. Little did I realise that clearly the distance shown was in 'Shropshire miles' and it turned out that our detour had probably taken half an hour and by the time we rejoined the A49, we had sadly missed Dennis, much to the consternation of my wife who felt that I had let him down.

'Link Lodge' a short walk from the factory.

Finally arriving at the lovely 'Link Lodge', http://www.linklodge.co.uk , our overnight accommodation in Pickersleigh Road, at around 2.30, I decided to drop the car off at the factory early for its windscreen replacement, rather than the scheduled time of 8am on the Tuesday morning, thinking that instead of having to rise at 7am on Tuesday I could enjoy a more leisurely awakening.

Towards the Malverns

On our way there we saw a silver Morgan AeroMax coming in the other direction that flashed its headlights at us. As we drew closer it was no other than Charles Morgan and as I mentioned to the delightful young lady in Service Reception, it is not everyone who has had the pleasure of being 'flashed' by Mr Morgan!!!

In the evening we enjoyed a first class meal and excellent ale at the nearby 'Nags Head' http://www.nagsheadmalvern.co.uk 

Following a lovely nights sleep, and a good chat with our host Peter over a hearty breakfast we collected a newspaper, fully expecting to spend a couple of hours in the Visitor Centre, and made our way there, settling ourselves in for the wait. Always pleasant when surrounded by Morgan paraphernalia.

In the Visitor Centre at the factory

We had hardly had time to gather our breath when we were informed by the receptionist that the car was ready, they had obviously begun the three hour job after we had left it with them on Monday. This was great news because it meant that we could make a relatively early start home.

The first part of the journey was completed with the top down, but rain for the rest of the trip caused the hood to be raised., not only that but we had to make a large detour after we had joined the M6, along the M62 and on to the M61 up to Preston and then home.